The 18-year-old featured for the full 90 minutes in his side's 1-0 loss, and even though he failed to help Partizan to a good result, he did manage to catch the eye of Stramaccioni with his fine display.

"He is a player with exceptional qualities. He possesses a very impressive acceleration and has a bright future ahead of him," Stramaccioni told reporters.

Markovic is seen as one of the most promising youngsters around in Europe, and was believed to be on his way to Chelsea in the summer transfer window.

Nevertheless, the Serbia international eventually stayed put, and has since attracted the interest of several big sides.

Apart from Chelsea and Inter, Markovic has also been linked with Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich.